The Steel Veil

Soulfully introspective and viscerally engaged, Jack Marshall’s poetry weds timely depictions of Middle Eastern widows “behind veils heavy / as the steel / veil of empire” with timeless expressions of personal grief and political outrage. Invoking visionary possibilities of being while “riding unsteadily on the rails / of rhyme,” Marshall’s distinctive voice and elegant lyrics unite this muscled, multilayered collection. Born in 1936 to Jewish parents who emigrated from Iraq and Syria, grew up in New York and now lives in California. He is the author of the memoir and several award-winning poetry collections.